Champions League Update

Just a mini-informational update on the European and Asian Champions League.

Europe

The draw for the round of 16 was held earlier and Son Heung-min and Bayer Leverkusen learned their opponent for the next round. They were drawn with last year’s La Liga champion and Champions League runners-up, Atletico Madrid. Atletico comfortably topped their group (Group A) ahead of Juventus.

Early online predictions of the tie don’t look favorable for Leverkusen with most feeling that Atletico is a bit too good for the German side to overcome. Indeed the match up should prove an interesting one to watch, at least for the tactics nerds, as it features two very different, but well respected managers, in Diego Simeone and Roger Schmidt.

Asia

The Asian Champions League picture got a little clearer as the Japanese Emperor’s Cup final was held last weekend between Gamba Osaka and Montedio Yamagata. Gamba won the match 3-1 to seal a domestic treble for the Osaka team. Korean right-back Oh Jae-suk started the match for Gamba and played the full 90′.

Perhaps our resident J League expert Takeuchi can shed some light, but the match also featured (for Gamba) a player named Kim Jung-ya. From my short research, Kim JY was born to Korean parents in Japan (thus making him a “zainichi”), but different sites show different ‘nationalities’ for him. Gamba’s official site lists him as Japanese. Wikipedia lists him as South Korean. Soccerway lists him as North Korean. So, I’m not entirely sure where his “allegiance” lies. Although, it’s worth mentioning that he doesn’t seem to have any national team future as he rarely features for the team plus he’s already 27. Just something interesting.

Back to the more important matter. How Gamba’s win shakes through the different group situations in next year’s AFC Champions League.

Group E – will get the Japan 4 spot (Jeonbuk’s group), which will go to Kim Chang-soo’s Kashiwa Reysol who finished 4th in the J League. They will enter in the 3rd round of qualification.

Jeonbuk Motors, Shandong Luneng, Becamex Binh Du’o’ng, PO team 2

Group F – was already settled with Gamba Osaka in that group with Seongnam.

Gamba Osaka, Seongnam FC, Buriram United, PO team 3

Group G – will get the J League runners-up which was Urawa Red Diamonds. They will be in the same group as Suwon.

Brisbane Roar, Urawa Red Diamonds, Suwon Samsung, PO Team 4

Group H – will get the J League third-place team which was Kashima Antlers. Should FC Seoul make it out of qualification they will go into this group.

K League Classic

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

Ulsan

29

2

Seoul

25

3

Jeonbuk Motors

24

4

Daegu

22

5

Sangju Sangmu

20

6

Pohang Steelers

20

7

Gangwon

19

8

Suwon Bluewings

13

9

Seongnam

13

10

Jeju United

10

11

Gyeongnam

9

12

Incheon United

6

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

May 25, 2019

Seongnam

1 - 4

Ulsan

Gangwon

0 - 1

Jeju United

Pohang Steelers

0 - 0

Seoul

May 24, 2019

Incheon United

1 - 2

Sangju Sangmu

May 19, 2019

Sangju Sangmu

1 - 3

Seoul

Seongnam

1 - 2

Gangwon

English Premier League

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

AFC Bournemouth

0

2

Arsenal

0

3

Brighton & Hov…

0

4

Burnley

0

5

Chelsea

0

6

Crystal Palace

0

7

Everton

0

8

Leicester City

0

9

Liverpool

0

10

Manchester City

0

11

Manchester United

0

12

Newcastle United

0

13

Norwich City

0

14

Sheffield United

0

15

Southampton

0

16

Tottenham Hotspur

0

17

Watford

0

18

West Ham United

0

19

Wolverhampton Wanderers

0

Hwang Heechan

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

Red Bull Salzburg

55

Bundesliga

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

1

Bayern München

78

2

Borussia Dortmund

76

3

RB Leipzig

66

4

Bayer 04 Leverkusen

58

5

Borussia Mönchengladbach

55

6

Wolfsburg

55

7

Eintracht Frankfurt

54

8

Werder Bremen

53

9

TSG 1899 Hoffenheim

51

10

Fortuna Düsseldorf

44

11

Hertha BSC

43

12

1. FSV Mainz 05

43

13

SC Freiburg

36

14

Schalke 04

33

15

Augsburg 1907

32

16

Stuttgart

28

17

Hannover 96

21

18

Nürnberg

19

Kwon Changhoon

Most recent soccer data here. The system is currently retrieving statistics from data feed.

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Team

P

18

Dijon

34

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The Tavern of the Taeguk Warriors is an online community of Korean football/soccer supporters. We bring you news, analysis and opinion in English about Korean players abroad, youth players and the K League.